I really am confused by this signing... Why are we bringing in Salei and not Willy Mitchell into the fold? I understand the Wings cap situation but I'd rather have Lebda or Lilja than this freckin guy!? He's too old at this point and is always very inconsistent...

I really am confused by this signing... Why are we bringing in Salei and not Willy Mitchell into the fold? I understand the Wings cap situation but I'd rather have Lebda or Lilja than this freckin guy!? He's too old at this point and is always very inconsistent...

I really am confused by this signing... Why are we bringing in Salei and not Willy Mitchell into the fold? I understand the Wings cap situation but I'd rather have Lebda or Lilja than this freckin guy!? He's too old at this point and is always very inconsistent...

You just answered your own question. Mitchell made $3.5 million last year. I'd love to have him to, but unfortunately you can't switch the Salary Cap to 'off'.

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I had a feeling the Wings would go after Salei. We're always grabbing guys just past their prime and/or coming off of injuries. If he stays healthy, he's an upgrade over Lilja, and at a bargain price to boot.

I really like our defense this year. Lidstrom-Rafalski, Stuart-Kronwall, Salei-Ericsson. A nice mix of elite offensive and defensive talent with a little grit mixed in. This will be a great group to show Kindl the ropes.

Kindl will get his shot through 82 games, and when he gets it he must EMBRACE IT with solid play and make a point for babcock to have him a permanent spot.. it really is up to Kindl to show the coach that he got what it takes, no more room for farm team errors when you're up in the big club, simple as that.

Ruslan Salei tells Saladarnist's Sergei Olekhnovich that he also decided to join the Red Wings because they treat their veteran players well, and he admitted that he plans on talking with Mike Modano about his infamous hit from behind which left Modano with a severe concussion in 2000. Salei also reveals that he nearly signed with the Anaheim Ducks before the Wings and coach Mike Babcock came calling, and he says that his status as a former member of the Colorado Avalanche does not mean that he hates the Wings.

Ruslan Salei tells Saladarnist's Sergei Olekhnovich that he also decided to join the Red Wings because they treat their veteran players well, and he admitted that he plans on talking with Mike Modano about his infamous hit from behind which left Modano with a severe concussion in 2000. Salei also reveals that he nearly signed with the Anaheim Ducks before the Wings and coach Mike Babcock came calling, and he says that his status as a former member of the Colorado Avalanche does not mean that he hates the Wings.

I really am confused by this signing... Why are we bringing in Salei and not Willy Mitchell into the fold? I understand the Wings cap situation but I'd rather have Lebda or Lilja than this freckin guy!? He's too old at this point and is always very inconsistent...

Defenseman Ruslan Salei fitting right in with WingsTed Kulfan / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Don't expect defenseman Ruslan Salei's adjustment to the Red Wings' system to be a difficult experience.

There's a key reason Salei seems to be fitting in nicely to the way the Wings play.

"I don't think it's hard to adjust when you play with the puck, compared to when you're chasing it," he said.

Salei played for coach Mike Babcock in Anaheim from 2002-04. Babcock preached a similar, but different, hard-driving approach with the Ducks.

"Here it's a puck-possession style and the personnel is a lot different from what we had," Salei said. "In Anaheim, it was a little more paying attention to defense and obviously hard work, just like here.

"But you have to play the system according to your personnel. Here it's a puck-possession style probably more than the rest of the league."

Knowing what Babcock expects and wants has helped Salei in his opening days as a Red Wing.

"I haven't found it a difficult adjustment," he said. "It's been good for me. When you go to different teams and different coaches, everybody has their system, and it's part of the business (to learn).

"Here, I don't find it hard to understand."

Babcock has kept, Salei said, the same type of intensity he displayed with the Ducks.

"Always intense, and a good motivator," Salei said. "That's just Babs. Everybody is different. No two people are similar. But I can tell you Babs is always prepared and ready. That's how he is."

I think that he has looked great so far, for his price. I'm sure he will be the ideal partner for players like Ericsson and Kindl - he has the experience and patience to make the right play, and hopefully some of it will rub off.

I think that he has looked great so far, for his price. I'm sure he will be the ideal partner for players like Ericsson and Kindl - he has the experience and patience to make the right play, and hopefully some of it will rub off.

Don't forget the physicality and mean streak... hopefully some of that rubs off as well...

Salei didn't only know the Red Wings and their history, he knew their coach. Mike Babcock was his coach from 2002-04 with the Anaheim Ducks, the team that originally drafted Salei in the first round in 1996.

So Salei knew what he was in for with Babcock when he joined the Wings.

"Sometimes you don't really like what he does, but the basic sense of it, he's making you a better player overall and I think that's the best indication of a coach," Salei said. "He's always intense, he's always on top, he's always prepared."

Salei, who just turned 36 Nov. 2, is known more as a defensive defenseman. His best offensive season came in 2006-07, when he had six goals and 26 assists with the Florida Panthers. He has three assists in 13 games with the Wings so far this season.

He's also known as a reliable penalty killer.

"I love it," Salei said. "I always have, and it's always been part of my game. The best way to do it is not take any penalties and then you don't have to kill any.

"I think the main thing is, obviously, the system and the goalie. The best penalty killer is the goalie and then it comes down to your defense and your forwards.

"You have to work as a unit of four, or a unit of five counting the goalie. You have to have communication on the ice, and you have to know where everybody goes. The better you do that, the better penalty killing unit you have."

Through the first 13 games, the Wings were ranked seventh overall (87 percent) in penalty killing.

“I still want him to get there quicker and move his feet more and get involved,” Babcock said. “I’ve been saying that ever since I coached him (in Anaheim from 2002-04), so that would be three straight years of that.

“I still think Rusty’s got a lot more upside. He’s kind of like (Red Wings center Mike) Modano, he’s just getting better every time they play.”

Salei said his transition from a young Colorado club to a highly skilled, veteran puck possession team in Detroit has not been difficult.

“What surprised me probably the most is how much more skilled the forwards are than I actually thought they were,” Salei said. “Working on a daily basis with them, you realize how skilled they are, how great a group of guys they are.”

Salei, who turned 36 last Tuesday, played only 14 games last season due to back surgery. He was scheduled to play his 12th game Saturday night in Vancouver.

“I’m still in the process of getting more comfortable out there, getting into my role,” Salei said. “Off the ice is good, great group of guys, everybody is really nice people here.”